COST Connect – Striving for new horizons in climate change and forest systems

Climate changes and related extreme events, increasingly affect forests and their associated ecological, sociological and economic systems requiring pro-active adaptation measures for maintaining their sustainability. In recognition of their importance, forests and wood chains have been included in the international climate regime following the Paris agreement.

COST Connect – Climate Change and Forest Systems, new horizons for research and innovation, an event co-organised by COST and SCAR (Standing Committee on Agricultural Research), was held on the 5 ^th June 2018 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The event brought researchers from 18 COST Actions together with policy makers and representatives from the climate and forest-based sector, to promote greater collaboration within research activities. The event aimed to promote synergies with activities funded through other EU programmes and fight against the dispersion of resources and fragmentation of research activities.

Participants from COST Connect, Sofia, Bulgaria.

Steve Woodward, Vice-chair of COST Action PINESTRENGTH said the event was an “Interesting forum for the exchange of views with people from outside your immediate research focus, which broadens your awareness of other issues of relevance to forestry overall.”

Milena Damyanova, who is a CSO for COST and the Director of the Science Directorate for the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science, stated during her address “Networking has always been the key that leads to excellence in research. I would like to see more and more strong and sustainable bonds between researchers, teams, and institutions. Only by acting together in coordination Europe can reveal its actual scientific potential.”

COST Connect Climate Change and Forest Systems, new horizons for research and innovation was held in cooperation with CASA, Common Agricultural and wider bioeconomy research agenda, the Ministry of Education and Science and the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Read more about the COST Actions involved:

1. Climate-Smart Forestry in Mountain Regions – CA15226
2. Payments for Ecosystem Services (Forests for Water) – CA15206
3. Understanding wood modification through an integrated scientific and environmental impact approach (ModWoodLife) – FP1407
4. Pine pitch canker: strategies for management of Gibberella Circinata in greenhouses and forests (PINESTRENGTH) – FP1406
5. Non-native tree species for European forests – experiences, risks and opportunities (NNEXT) – FP1403
6. Innovations in Climate Governance: Sources, Patterns and Effects (INOGOV) – IS1309
7. Linking belowground biodiversity and ecosystem function in European forests (BioLink) – FP1305
8. Towards robust projections of European forests under climate change (PROFOUND) – FP1304
9. Innovative management and multifunctional utilization of traditional coppice forests – an answer to future ecological, economic and social challenges in the European forestry sector (EuroCoppice) – FP1301
10. Orchestrating forest-related policy analysis in Europe (ORCHESTRA) – FP1207
11. European mixed forests – Integrating Scientific Knowledge in Sustainable Forest Management (EuMIXFOR) – FP1206
12. Green Infrastructure approach: linking environmental with social aspects in studying and managing urban forests – FP1204
13. Strengthening conservation: a key issue for adaptation of marginal/peripheral populations of forest trees to climate change in Europe (MaP-FGR) – FP1202
14. Forest Land Ownership Changes in Europe: Significance for Management And Policy (FACESMAP) – FP1201
15. Studying Tree Responses to extreme Events: a SynthesiS (STReESS) – FP1106
16. Climate Change and Forest Mitigation and Adaptation in a Polluted Environment – FP0903
17. Expected climate change and options for European silviculture (ECHOES) – FP0703
18. Post-Fire Forest Management in Southern Europe – FP0701